Clay products



PROCESS FOR SURFAGING CLAY PRODUCTS Filed May 28 1921 dwww Patented Dec.18, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EM'METT V. POSTON, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINUES, ASSIG-NJR 'lO POSTON BBICKCOM- PANY, OF SPRING-FIELD, ILLINOIS, A. UQBPOLEZA'LUION O1 ILLINOIS.

PROCESS FOR SURFACIIJG CLAY PRODUCTS.

Application filed Play 28,

To @317 whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EMMETT V. PosToN, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Springfield, county of Sangamon, and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pr cessesfor Surf cing Clay Produc;s, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in process and apparatu forsurfacing clay products and' products produced thereby and refers moreparticularly to a process for surfacing building blocks.

Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide a process forimposing upon the clay bar from which building blocks are produced, aroughened surface and one which gives a roughened appearance to a wallwhen laid; to provide a process whereby a roughened imprint is imposedon the exposed surfaces of clay products and particularly buildingmaterials which improves the general appearance, and especially gives aricher and softer facing by the imprinting of a granular design upon thesurface of the building material; to provide a process which is simplein that the roughened appearance is effected by the simple imposition ofrollers upon the surface of the brick and effective as the character onthe surface of the roll is directly transferred to the clay product.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

The machine or apparatus for surfacing a clay bar from which bricks arecut consists primarily of a number of roughened surfaced rollers firmlyheld against the slowly moving clay bar by means of spring tension, thesurface of the rollers being roughened and the surface of the clay barbeing smooth as it passes from the die. The softness of the clay barwill permit an imprint to be taken from the roughened surfaced rollersgiving the desired surface or texture to the clay bar which, in duecourse of manufacture, will be cut into brick. This roughened texturewill be imposed on the top and sides of the brick or upon those surfaceswhich are exposed when the bricks are laid.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the four rollers l, 2, 3and at are conreal. Serial No. 473,481.

structed of wood and are covered with a heavy layer of canvas to whichis firmly glued a single layer of gravel of different degrees offineness, Those rollers are supported on shafts which carried by thesiwport members 6, these support members hen in turn fastened to thetable 7 of the mac inc, Between the vrollers travels the clay bar 8which is forced from the brick making die 9 by augurs (not shown), theforming of the brick bar taking place in the usual manner common to theart. The rolls 1, 2 3 and 4 are arranged vertically so that they contactthe sides of the brick bar and ar supported in slotted bearings so thatthe rollers 1, 3., 2 and f are firmly held against the clay bar by pullsprings 10, two above and two below the clay bar. The slots in thesupports 6 allow the necessary play in order that th rollers may alwaysbe in firm contact with the moving bar. Between the rollers 1 and 2, andthe rollers 3 and 4 are positioned the oil rollers 11, which are feltcovered rolls saturated with oil which contact the gravel covered rollsand prevent the moist clay from adhering thereto. On the top surfaces ofthe clay bar are positioned the surfacing rolls 12, 13, 14c and 15.These rolls are arranged in pairs, each pair being supported by thestraps 16 and 17. To the straps 16 are attached secondary supportingstraps 18, in which bears the oil roller 19. This oil roller isidentical in construction to the roller 11 and prevents the adherence ofthe clay bar to the rollers 12, 13, 14: and 15. These horizontallypositioned upper rollers rotating upon the surface of the bar are heldin contact with the bar by means of leaf springs 20. The springs arepivoted to the supporting straps at 21 and 22 and are fastened centrallyto the support member 23. The member 23 is held in position bv verticalmembers 24- which are adjustably fastened to the table of the machine at25. The springtension imposed iipon the rolls is regulated by theadjustable vertical members 2%.

From the description of the device, the operation thereof is obvious.The clay bar which is forced from the die passes between the rollerspositioned at the sides and at the top so that they contact the lateraland upper surfaces of the bar and imprint the roughened texture of therolls upon the surfaces of the bar. On the surfaces of the rolls 1 and 8and 12 and 13, ll find that a more uniform and even texture may betransferred to the surface of the ciay bar by using comparativelyline-grain greeular surfacing. 0n the rollers 2 and rant rolls 1a and1.5, T use a seiuewhat coarse granular material the finishing surface.It has been found that when a brick is broken, the irregular surfacesappearing at the break displays the various colors in the texture of thebrick surita ,cs to better advantage. The roughening process is designedto give the face of the brick as nearly as possi "the "eral text thatwould appear upon brew ing the brick. The economy, simplicity andelliciency or the process lends itself admirably to the brick makingindustry. 1 is understand, oi' course that this roughened texturesmrtacing may be used in various arts other than brick making and theproducing of the roughened texture by rolling fildlitf surfaced rollsupon a smooth plastic surface is broadly the novel feature of theinvention. The teX- ture of the surfacing may be varied. according tothe character of the granular material which is carried upon the surfaceof the rolls. 1t 1s only necessary to surface those sides of the brickwhich are exposed in building, although, it desired, surfacing rolls maybe placed in position to impose the roughened texture upon the foursurfaces of the bar. The bar may be severedinto suitable length units bymeans of a cutting vvire such as that shown at 26. This cutting Wire maybe supported by a rotary mechanism, not shown, or a reciprocating devicewhich passes the wire through the plastic bar and severs the bar intobricks off a predetermined length.

I claim as my invention:

1. A process of surfacing plastic substances. consisting in passing theplastic bar between a series of essure rolls having granular surfaces ofvaried degree of coarseness, and subsequently severing the substanceinto building elements.

A process of surfacing plastic substances consisting in forcing thesubstance through a die of predetermined form, contacting the moldedform with rolls having roughened surfaces or varied degrees ofcoarseness for imposing a coarse textured surface upon the faces oftheform and subsequently cutting the form into predeter niin-e'd shapes.

EMMETT V POSTON.

